Ethiopian Lamb

Ethiopian Lamb

RECIPE: Ethiopian Lamb from "The Hungry Girls' Cookbook", on MiNDFOOD.

Ethiopian Lamb

Ethiopian restaurants are starting to make an impact in Melbourne, and the food is unique. This dish, called tibs, has similarities to a curry, but it’s cooked like a stir-fry. In restaurants it is served with injera bread – large sourdough pancakes made of teff flour – so, if you have an Ethiopian restaurant or bakery near you, then definitely buy some injera and eat this dish with your hands, tearing off pieces of bread to pick up the pieces of lamb. If not, serve this with rice.

For the berbere, grind the fenugreek seeds to a powder using a mortar and pestle – the bigger and heavier the better, as these seeds are tough. Add the cloves, seeds from the cardamom pods, cumin, coriander and peppercorns one at a time, grinding each to a powder with the fenugreek. Stir in the remaining ingredients. This makes a little under 1/2 cup. Store in a jar.

Mix the lamb with the salt, garlic, ginger and 1 heaped tablespoon of the berbere, stirring well.

Put the butter, oil and onion in a wok and fry over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the onion is soft and starting to brown. Turn the heat up to high and add the lamb. Stir-fry for a minute or so, until the lamb is brown all over. Add the tomatoes and continue stir-frying for another minute, until they release some of their juices and start to collapse. Turn off the heat; the lamb should still be a little pink in the middle.

Serve with injera or rice, and with a simple green salad, perhaps lettuce, cucumber, red onion and capsicum in a tangy lemon dressing.